


lie your head onto these shadows

by Anonymous



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:54:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25690165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Padmé has a nightmare. Or does she?
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Sheev Palpatine
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8
Collections: Anonymous, Het Swap Exchange 2020





	lie your head onto these shadows

**Author's Note:**

  * For [indigo_inks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/indigo_inks/gifts).



Padmé drifted between sleep and wakefulness. Her body and mind were tired after a long day in the senate. The muddled sound of voices had followed her into her personal quarters and stayed with her long after she had forced herself to eat at least some of the vast assortment of bread and cheese that her staff had ordered from the kitchens.

Distracted, she had been unable to enjoy the meal. She would stab her fork into a slice of cheese and the emperor's voice would ring in her ears the same way it had done an hour ago in his office. She would swallow a bite, try to savor the rich flavor she loved on any other dax, and hear him reiterate how she must show patience and that negotiations could not be rushed. Assuring her that he was on her side. Always reasonable. Always convincing.

And yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that he was only stringing her along, no matter how often she reminded herself that such an assessment was unfair.

Even in her sleep, she could not escape his voice.

She tossed and turned. Hours passed, and she startled from a light doze to shadows moving in her room and sweat clinging to her skin. But the shifting light was only a ship passing by her windows -- just part of the sleepless city that was Coruscant.

She loved Coruscant. The bright lights. The hustle and bustle of the city, the diversity of beings, each bringing their culture, food, and fashion with them to this singular city-planet that had become her home away from home.

Yet, she also missed Naboo with its sweeping green hills, snow-dusted mountains, and deep mountain lakes. Many of her best memories were painted in the bright colors of Naboo.

Two places -- two worlds -- that could not be more different in nature, reflecting the infinite variety of life in the galaxy, and Padmé knew that she would never tire of either.

Sighing, she tore her eyes from the panorama of neon lights outside the shaded windows. Her hands clenched around her blanket as she took in her large and empty bedroom. A feeling of unease lingered in the back of her mind, but she could not make head or tails of it.

With a impatient sound tumbling from her lips, she resolved to try once again to get some rest. She had an early meeting tomorrow. It would not do to attend it ill-rested.

Besides, she was safe here. There were guards here to protect her, and she could not explain the oppressive feeling of dread that had stolen over her. Flinging herself back into the pillows in frustration, she closed her eyes.

"I thought you had forgotten, but it seems you're starting to remember."

Padmé sat back up with a start. She looked widely around the room, looking for the owner of the voice -- a voice that was all too familiar, a voice that had hunted her all day, and now apparently had followed her into sleep.

For she must have been dreaming about it, seeing as her room was empty. She turned on the lights, just to make certain, but no one was hiding in the shadows cast by furniture and wall-hangings.

Still, she felt compelled to get out of her bed and cross the room to the doors which let to the corridor. Her guards turned to her as the doors slid open.

Padmé felt rather silly asking the question, but she had to be sure.

"Did anyone approach my quarters?" she hedged, not wanting to ask if they'd actually let anyone inside her bedroom.

"Not a soul, senator. Is everything alright?"

"Yes," she replied, perhaps a touch too quickly. "Just a bad dream I reckon." She turned away and listened to the doors closing behind her.

Briefly pressing a hand to her forehead she got back into bed sure that she was not going to get a wink of true sleep, any yet unfathomably dreading that she would fall asleep and hear the emperor's voice again.

The light was hazy and for a moment, the corridor beneath her feet seemed to tilt at an odd angle. Padmé felt dizzy. Had she not been in her bedroom moments ago? Was she dreaming again?

A pair of doors slid open to reveal the ostentatious and intimately familiar office of the emperor. His hooded face looked up at her from behind his desk.

"I see you have found your way back," he said with a twisted smile that made her shiver.

"What am I doing here," she asked confused. "I don't remember how I got here."

"What makes you think you're really here?" He got up and walked around his desk, getting closer, invading her space until Padmé took a step back.

"Am I dreaming?" If she was dreaming, he wouldn't be able to touch her. Somehow, it was very important that he didn't touch her.

"Perhaps you are remembering," he crooned. He walked around her until he stood behind her, and Padmé could feel the fabric of his cloak brush against her back. She felt rooted to the spot.

"Remember what?" she asked tremulously, dread pouring into her veins.

"The desk, perhaps. Or my chair. The whips and chains I keep in my drawer."

"I don't understand."

"The Force. Do you remember that? That I can use it to make you forget why you come here every day."

"I come here to negotiate. To seek your advice."

His hands came to rest on her shoulders. Padmé felt cold. "I can also use it to heal the marks I leave on your body. To leave no evidence of all the depraved and wicked things we do."

Padmé wrenched her shoulders out of his grasp. "No!"

He grabbed her again, more forcefully then before and pushed her face down onto his desk. "The depraved and wicked things we will do again tomorrow."

"NO!"

Padmé woke up in a cold sweat. She was panting. What a strange nightmare to have. And about someone she looked up to no less. She really didn't know what to make of it.


End file.
